Phoshime

August 7, 2024 @ 6:34 am · Filed by under Language and food, Neologisms

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Jeffrey L. Schwartz (cf. "Durian pizza" [10/18/19]) posted this photo on Facebook, showing a midtown Manhattan Asian fusion restaurant called Phoshime:

image.png

Since it's a "Vietnamese kitchen & sushi bar," the name would seem to be a blend of "pho" and "sashimi." But what explains the final "e"? Is this also intended to be a pun in Japanese? Does it have anything to do with 節目 "fùshímé", meaning "turning point, critical juncture"?

I was just flailing about like that, even thinking that somehow "phoshi" might reflect "sushi", but then what becomes of the "me"?

The name "Phoshime" was driving me nuts for awhile, but I finally figured it out when I realized that "shime" is an important term in Japanese foodways.

"What is Shime often referred to in Japanese food?", by aki, Kodawari Times (3/18/23)

Written in kanji, it is “締め”.  Sometimes it is written with a simplified kanji, “〆”.  I think that it derives from the verb "shimeru" ("close; shut; tie"), though that should be confirmed by Japanese specialists.

Basically it means a last dish added to something more major / substantial you were eating or drinking beforehand, such as rice or noodles put in the soup that remains after you've had a long nabe (hot pot) meal.  Or you go to a shop for a light snack after you've been consuming heavier things earlier in the evening.

So "Phoshime" < pho + shime.

I think so.

 

Selected readings

[h.t. Ben Zimmer]

August 7, 2024 @ 6:34 am · Filed by under Language and food, Neologisms


13 Comments

  1. rpsms said,

    August 7, 2024 @ 10:13 am

    Don't forget "faux" not the same sound but "pho-" rymes with faux to Americans even if they know it is "fuh"

  2. Francis Deblauwe said,

    August 7, 2024 @ 11:29 am

    Isn't "-hime" often used to indicate "princess" in Japanese? That leaves that "s" of course: maybe just to make it more easy to pronounce for English speakers?

  3. Elizabeth Okada said,

    August 7, 2024 @ 2:03 pm

    The "shime" explanation makes sense to me because it also can mean some noodles you eat to top off a night of drinking. This can offset some of the worst effects of the alcohol and clear your head before you go home.

  4. Philip Taylor said,

    August 7, 2024 @ 3:26 pm

    At my wife's hotel in Cornwall we serve both faux beef (for vegans) and beef phở. Many of the western staff struggle with achieving a moderately authentic pronunciation for phở, and most just fall back on /fəʊ/ or /foʊ/. As you can imagine, the possibilities for misunderstanding cannot be over-stated, especially as the latter appears on the menu as "Phở with Beef or Chicken" which is invariably abbreviated in order slips for the kitchen to "Pho Beef" or "Pho Chicken". When one of the chefs recently said "Sorry, we are out of /foʊ/ beef", I really had no idea to which of the two he was referring.

  5. cameron said,

    August 7, 2024 @ 6:43 pm

    some people must order beef pho with faux beef just for the thrill of it

  6. magnus fiskesjö said,

    August 10, 2024 @ 1:04 pm

    Are you sure it isn't just the confusion arising from the American propensity to change foreign "i" to "e" everywhere because they want it pronounced like American "e", that is, really i elsewhere around the world, including Japan.
    What I am saying is, the guy who made this sign wanted it pronounced phoshimi, and to achieve that he wrote phoshime, to get the people in the street outside to pronounce it like he wants them to.
    If he wrote "i" some Americans might even start saying "ai" ('phoshimai') and such (remember the awfulness of 'Airaq', the country they invaded but could not even pronounce the name of!) … Americans are generally unable to fathom any other phonetic use of the Latin alphabet than the Anglo-American way that they are used to.

  7. Chas Belov said,

    August 10, 2024 @ 4:48 pm

    macOS character viewer is telling me 〆 is an ideographic closing marke.

  8. Ryan said,

    August 12, 2024 @ 12:54 am

    Yes, Magnus. We’re sure. And I won’t even trouble you with similar patronizing stupidity about your country. No need to thank me. Just think twice before posting next time.

  9. Philip Taylor said,

    August 12, 2024 @ 1:33 pm

    Is that the royal "we", Ryan? If not, are you authorised to speak on behalf of your entire nation, or did you carry out a poll to ensure that what you wrote accurately reflected the views of your fellow Americans ?

  10. Philip Taylor said,

    August 13, 2024 @ 5:06 am

    "macOS character viewer is telling me 〆 is an ideographic closing marke". Babelstone says much the same, Chas — "U+3006 : IDEOGRAPHIC CLOSING MARK"

  11. Philip Taylor said,

    August 13, 2024 @ 6:45 am

    Further to 〆, "U+3006 : IDEOGRAPHIC CLOSING MARK" , https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/%E7%B7%A0%E3%82%81/ says « ４ 封書の封じ目に書く「〆」のしるし » which Google Translate renders as « 4 "〆" written on the seal of the sealed letter in English ».

  12. James said,

    August 14, 2024 @ 7:05 am

    Re. the comment from Magnus, I would have thought that, if anything, people only familiar with English spelling norms (not just Americans) would replace an "e" with an "i" (or "é") to avoid the final "e" just changing the pronunciation of the previous vowel, i.e. rhyming "phoshime" with "lime" (or "rhyme")

  13. Philip Taylor said,

    August 14, 2024 @ 3:17 pm

    I think, not necessarily, James, especially if they were familiar with woirds such as "anemone", "Penelope", "Antigone", "Adobe" (tho' I had a British colleague who, to this daym believes that the last rhymes with "lobe"), Phoebe, etc.

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